The Public and Private Image
Of The Bullmastiff
( Author Unknown )
How is the public image of the Bullmastiff
formed? By you and your dog at home, when the meter man comes to the
door; when you travel; when you are invited to the home of friends;
when he is left in the car while you shop; when you walk along a
crowded street; when the neighbors child trips over him in the
doorway; when he soils the neighbors lawn or chases his cat.
Much as we wish the public were soundly and
correctly educated on the subject of dogs and dog behavior, it is not.
Individuals usually form their own opinion of an entire breed on the
basis of an encounter with one or two specimens.
Will it be a bad image? " That big brute
lunged at my Charlie just the other day! (It doesn't really matter
whether Charlie is a Toy Poodle or a small child!). "I think that
we ought to get together and make them get rid of that dog".
Or will it be a good image? "You know
that big Bullmastiff next door? I didn't even know what it was until
the guy told me. Well last week we woke up one night because the dog
was really barking. My wife nudges me and says, `Ed, you'd better go
downstairs and take a look around. I thought it was ridiculous, I mean
it was probably a cat and it was also the middle of the night., but I
got up and went down. And you know, the police caught a guy
practically right between our houses about twenty minutes later. If
that dog hadn't barked , I never would have known it until he was
inside. Nice dog to have around. You can go right up to him too.
What image do you and your Bullmastiff
present to the general public? We all have the responsibility to keep
our dogs on our own property; to keep them on leash, or under control
on the street; to prevent damage to the person or property of others
and soon. We take this for granted. But remember that the Bullmastiff
is conspicuous. No one worries about the Pomeranian down the street,
that runs loose. However if the neighbors dog picks a fight with your
dog, you can be certain that rightly or wrongly, your Bullmastiff will
be blamed. He is large and powerful; and he does have a way of
confronting people with a sober stare that makes then recollect their
sins.
What do you do? You and your dog build a
sound, sensible reputation in your community. You keep him securely at
home; away from potential dognappers, away from the neighbors garbage
cans, cat and flower beds, away from teasing children and car wheels.
He remains in your home and on your property, where he can be a
companion and protection for you.
When your dog goes out with you, he is always
under calm, confidant control; he appears eager and enthusiastic to
work; he greets properly introduced strangers politely; he is a
healthy, well groomed representative of generations of Bullmastiff
breeding. And then when your neighbors complains to others that his
dog was injured or whatever, he will hear " oh, it couldn't have
been his dog that did it. He is never allowed to run, and besides I've
met him. He's is the nicest, most well behaved dog that you have ever
seen.
While you study your dog in those situations,
study yourself. What is your basic attitude towards your dog? Aloof or
affectionate?, Reserved or exuberant? Patient or inpatient? Firm or
permissive? What are your physical and emotional strengths and
limitations?
When you have laid a foundation of
perspective and understanding, you are ready to build a working
relationship. training can be classified in two ways: intentional and
unintentional. Intentional training is practiced at formal obedience
classes and at home; i.e.: putting on a leash, practicing specific
commands and responses. Unintentional training includes all the things
that you have taught your dog without realizing it, i.e.: to recognize
your moods, to interpret unconscious gestures and changes in voice
tone, to respond positively or negatively. He probably knows these
moods and gestures better than you do yourself. His security depends
on it.
Intentional training in most cases averages
ten or fifteen minutes a day on leash, and an hour a week in formal
training class. Unintentional training goes on 24 hrs a day. The
unintentional training, the attitude you demonstrate toward your dog
all the time, not just on lead practicing set routines, will make or
break the intentional training you give him.
Successful training will depend on your
ability to train yourself to be calm, firm, consistent and persistent.
Every time you tell your dog to sit, no matter what else distracts you
or him, you must see that he sits...calmly and firmly and always with
praise, no matter how much of a struggle it was. Every time you call
him, you must be in a position to enforce it, calmly, pleasantly and
with much praise. You must never command him to come and then punish
him and so on. Consistency is the key to success.
The working relationship with your dog should
be based upon mutual respect, understanding and perspective. A dog is
a dog; he thinks, acts and learns like a dog. He learns through cause
and effect, contrasted pleasure and displeasure and constant
repetition. What is your leverage as his trainer? " His desire to
please you. Motivation is the key. Motivate him positively and
consistently and he will become respondent and obedient.
Many people hesitate to obedience train their
dogs because they associate discipline with harsh and vindictive
punishment. It is true that some dogs can be forced to carry out
commands through fear of punishment. Generally speaking however this
is not the way to gain your dogs trust and loyalty.
Proper discipline is the establishment of
guidelines, Boundaries which encompass a range of acceptable behavior
patterns for your dog. Correction should always be appropriate to the
mistake; a flip of the lease when he lags behind; a sharp no nonsense
jerk if he lunges at the dog next to him. save the crack across the
muzzle for the really serious thins such as unwarranted fighting
,chasing cars etc. Harsh corrections in most cases only confuse and
panic the dog so that he is no longer capable of learning from the
situation.
Remember that if the dog makes a mistake,
nine times out of ten, it will be because you have not indicated
properly and consistently what you want him to do. You may have to
show him ten, twenty or thirty times before he understands. Correction
is only a preliminary step in the training process. Real training
begins when you show him what to do :i.e.,when you substitute a
correct behavior pattern for an incorrect one.
The best trainers are habitually observant
people, constantly aware of reaction and response between themselves
and their dogs. For the most part, they are calm and unexcitable when
confronted with unpredictable behavior and confident in their ability
to control the dog and also confident in the dogs potential to
understand if correctly approached.
Unique breed characteristics need to be taken
into consideration. Though playful enough as a puppy, the Bullmastiff
often takes a rather serious, somber attitude toward training as he
matures. He likes to work and concentrates hard on a new exercise for
a given interval. However once he learns it, he will quickly become
bored and lackadaisical if the exercise is not applied in a variety of
utilitarian ways. Be certain, when you train your Bullmastiff, that
what you may interpret as stubbornness is not really boredom.
The only way to build a complete working
relationship is to clearly define your training objectives and to
study your dog and yourself in order to adapt your training program to
your specific strengths and limitations, to gain the respect and
understanding of your dog by following through in both the intentional
and unintentional training that you give him. Be innovative enough
with your training to give him a raison d'etre. The entire focus of
his life should be to go with you, be with you and work with you. If
he fails to learn, it is not because he lacks the intelligence, but
because you have failed to teach him.
The life of a properly trained dog is filled
with purpose. He is confident and relaxed because he lives within a
framework of consistent guidelines. He reacts positively to new
situations because his owner has taken care to expose him to a variety
of experiences and to build his confidence through a series of
positive responses. He receives more approval and praise than
corrections, because good behavior patterns have been instilled before
bad one could form.
Once the working relationship has been
established, it will never be forgotten. Though you and your dog nay
be separated for many years, he will remember and respond with his
last conscious breath when he turns toward your hand and his eyes ask
"WAS THE JOB WELL DONE?".